A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Selling Snake Oil for Charity

Bubbe Maasos?

If this doesn’t make an Apikores out of you, I don’t know
what will. Whenever I see one of these Segula ads, I begin to wonder what is happening
to my Judaism. No matter how many times I write about them, and no matter how many respected
rabbis rail against them.

What are rabbis saying about Segulos? Here is what one of
them said. The Mezhbuzher Rav, R’ Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Bick is a quoted by Dr. Yitzchak Levine in the Aishdas archives:

[Segulos ] are nothing more than bubbe maasos, eitzas yetzer
hara that give people a license to spend money way beyond their means and then
ask for a yeshuah. All these formulae ­ saying Shir Hashirim forty times,
Tehillim HaChida, etc. ­ are methods used by the yetzer hara to take from us
the little [spirituality] we have left.

And yet Segulos seem to be on the increase. I just received
an ad for one from the Jewish Press.

Why are they on the increase?

There are probably two reasons for that. One is that desperate
people will take desperate measures. The other is that it must be a very
effective fundraiser.

The first time I saw an ad like this was for Kupat Ha’Ir.
This is a legitimate charity that helps the poor in Bnei Brak, Israel. These Charedim
are mostly people that do not make a living because they have been
indoctrinated to stay in Kollel for as long as possible and have had no
training whatsoever for the job market.

Even with working wives they often do not make enough money
to make ends meet. Mostly because of their large families. Kollel stipends are
a joke. The solution rabbinic leaders have come up with is a charity fund
called Kupat Ha’Ir. This type of fund has been duplicated in other cities in
Israel under different names.

While one can dispute (which I strongly do…) the philosophy
that discourages every male from working in favor of staying in Kollel - the
fact is that these people are poor and need the
money. This charity helps.

There is of course never enough money to go around and these
charities themselves take desperate measures to make money.

Some “genius” a while back figured out that they can make
money by taking advantage of desperate people.
Noting the problems of the day, they have searched for ancient ‘ solutions’
in the form of Segulos. These are ritualistic acts involving donations to their
cause. So if for example a young couple is having fertility issues, this organization
has found some sort of ancient formula that they promise to carry out on your
behalf - IF - you send them a donation. Usually a fixed amount of money. Usually having to do with supporting a Talmid Chacham.

This time it is Yad L’Achim – a Kiruv organization that, if
I recall correctly – deals mostly with Russian immigrants. I obviously have
no problem with reaching out to Russian immigrants. But I do have a problem
with this way of funding it. The vulnerable people they are targeting are
single women looking to get married.

In the Charedi world the prime age for a young woman to get
married is about 18 to 22. (That is an educated guess. The range might be even narrower – with the
top limit of 19 or 20.) Once past that age, these women begin having problems
getting dates. To those of us who have been paying attention, this is one of
the hottest topics being discussed in that world. All kinds of remedies have
been proposed to solve this problem. Including a radical suggestion by some to consider
plastic surgery to improve their appearance.

The point being that Yad L’Achim did not let the ‘Shiddach
crisis’ go unnoticed. They noticed. And they are taking full advantage of it
right now to raise money.

By donating to their cause they promise you that 10 Talmidei
Chachamim (a Minyan) will go to the city
of Meron to pray for you specifically - by name at the grave site of the sage, R’
Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron and the nearby grave-site of the sage, R’ Yonason Ben
Uziel in something called Amuka. This is
mostly a Sephardi custom and it is believed to help people in need if prayers
are said at those grave-sites.

And for some reason which is unclear to me, Tu B’Shevat (
the new year for trees)– which is tomorrow on the Hebrew calendar is supposed to
be an auspicious day for that.

And just to make sure they will raise as much money as
possible - they have added other major problems of our day, Parnassa, Refuos,
Shalom Bayis, children… all will be prayed for by name in Meron and at Amuka.

And you can also buy raffle tickets.

This is not my Judaism. Taking advantage of desperate people by getting
them to part with their money is not what I believe God intended for us as a
holy nation. Even when it is done for a good cause. It is just plain wrong.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.